1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication terminals which communicate with each other through a network, a communication system which comprises a management apparatus for initializing communication terminals for communication, and a program storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication terminals which are connected to a network and mutually communicate with each other, when set through communication initialization with information regarding a communication terminal of a communication partner to communicate with, can communicate with the communication partner. The information regarding the communication terminal of the communication partner as herein referred to includes an address which is used to specify the communication partner.
Now, as a conventional communication system, a system which comprises a first communication terminal and a second communication terminal which are operative in response to each other under a certain condition will be described.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a communication system which utilizes a conventional technique according to the example described above. As shown in FIG. 7, a communication system 7 is formed by an air conditioner 10 which is a first communication terminal comprising a humidity sensor 11, a humidifier 20 which is a second communication terminal, a communication initialization apparatus 30 which sets communication initialization information to these communication terminals, and a network 40 which connects these elements. The communication initialization apparatus 30, the air conditioner 10 which a communication terminal and the humidifier 20 which is another communication terminal each comprise communication means 50 which allows mutual communication through the network 40, self-regarding information holding means 51 which holds communication initialization information regarding the terminal or the apparatus itself, and partner information holding means 52 which holds communication initialization information regarding a communication partner.
Having such structures, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 are capable of operating in a mutually responsive manner such that the humidifier 20 starts operating, when the humidity sensor 11 of the air conditioner 10 indicates a value below a predetermined value.
Meanwhile, the communication initialization apparatus 30 comprises communication initialization means 53 and address holding means 54 which holds an address which is set by the communication initialization means 53. The air conditioner 10 comprises first control means 12 which instructs, using the communication means 50, the humidifier 20 to start operating when the humidity sensor 11 indicates a value below the predetermined value. The humidifier 20 comprises second control means 22 which starts operating in response to an instruction given from the first control means 12.
Operations of the conventional communication system which is structured as described above will now be described in the following.
First, an initial state is that in the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20, the self-regarding information holding means 51 holds self-identifying model type information which is set at the time of shipping and a preliminary initial address ADDX, while the partner information holding means 52 does not hold any information yet. As herein referred to, the xe2x80x9cself-identifying model type informationxe2x80x9d is information regarding model types such as air conditioners and humidifiers.
On the other hand, in the communication initialization apparatus 30, the self-regarding information holding means 51 holds self-identifying model type information which is set at the time of shipping and an official address ADD0 of the communication initialization apparatus 30 itself, while the address holding means 54 holds yet-to-set addresses which are set to the respective communication terminals to communicate with and information which is used to confirm whether the yet-to-set addresses are set to the respective communication terminals. As herein described, as the yet-to-set addresses, two addresses ADD1 and ADD2 are held.
Now, a description will be given on operations of communication initialization for enabling the communication terminals communicable with each other. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of communication initialization in the communication system 7. As shown in FIG. 8, the operations of communication initialization consist of three processes, that is, to set the respective communication terminals with official addresses (step 100), to acquire equipment information regarding the respective communication terminals (step 200) and to set the respective communication terminals with the partner information (step 300). In the following, the operations will be described in relation to each step.
First, an operation sequence at the step 100 in the respective communication terminals and the communication initialization apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows a specific communication sequence between the communication initialization apparatus 30, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 at the step 100.
At a first stage, using the preliminary address ADDX which is held in the self-regarding information holding means 51 and the address ADD0 which is held in the self-regarding information holding means 51 of the communication initialization apparatus 30, the communication means 50 of each one of the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 which are communication terminals communicates with the communication initialization apparatus 30, and requests for an official address.
Next, upon receipt of the requests for the official addresses, the communication initialization means 53 of the communication initialization apparatus 30 notifies, as official addresses, the communication terminals which issued the requests of the yet-to-set addresses which are held in the address holding means 54. As herein described, as the official addresses, the communication initialization means 53 notifies the air conditioner 10 of ADD1 and the humidifier 20 of ADD2. In other words, the communication initialization apparatus 30 sets ADD1 to the air conditioner 10 and ADD2 to the humidifier 20 as the official addresses.
Notified of the official addresses by the communication initialization apparatus 30, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 hold the official addresses in their self-regarding information holding means 51 as their own self-defining official addresses. This completes setting of the official addresses to the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20.
Second, an operation sequence at the step 200 in the respective communication terminals and the communication initialization apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 shows a specific communication sequence between the communication initialization apparatus 30, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 at the step 200.
At a first stage, using the official addresses which are set at the precedent step 100, the communication means 50 of the communication initialization apparatus 30 communicates with the respective communication terminals and requests for the equipment information which are held by the respective communication terminals.
Assuming that the communication initialization apparatus 30 issues an equipment information request first to the communication terminal which holds ADD1, since the communication terminal in which ADD1 is set as the official address is the air conditioner 10, the equipment information request is sent to the air conditioner 10.
Upon receipt of the equipment information request above, the air conditioner 10 notifies the communication initialization apparatus 30 of the equipment information which is one of self-regarding information held in the self-regarding information holding means 52 and which denotes among other things that the self-identifying model type is air conditioners.
The communication initialization apparatus 30, receiving the equipment information from the air conditioner 10, holds the equipment information in the partner information holding means 52 as information to be paired with ADD1.
Next, a similar operation to the above is performed on the humidifier 20 which is a communication terminal which holds ADD2. The communication initialization apparatus 30 holds, in the partner information holding means 52, equipment information regarding the humidifier 20 which is a communication terminal which has ADD2, as information to be paired with ADD2. This completes operations performed by the communication initialization apparatus for acquiring the equipment information regarding the respective communication terminals.
At last, a description will be given on an operation sequence at the step 300 in the respective communication terminals and the communication initialization apparatus with reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 shows a specific communication sequence between the communication initialization apparatus 30, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 at the step 300.
First, a case will be assumed where the first control means 12 of the air conditioner 10 is to operate in response to the humidifier. With the communication system 7 in the current state (at completion of the step 200), however, since the partner information holding means 52 of neither the air conditioner 10 nor the humidifier 20 holds any information, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 can not mutually communicate with each other.
In this case, the air conditioner 10 communicates with the communication initialization apparatus 30 and requests for the address of the communication terminal whose equipment information denotes that the equipment is a humidifier.
Receiving the address request above, the communication initialization apparatus 30 searches information which is held in the partner information holding means 52. Since ADD2 is the address of the communication terminal whose equipment information denotes that the equipment is a humidifier at present, the communication initialization apparatus 30, upon discovery of this, returns a reply to the air conditioner 10 and notifies the air conditioner 10 of the fact that the address of the communication terminal satisfying the request is ADD2.
The air conditioner 10 receives the reply and holds ADD2 in its partner information holding means 52 as the address of the humidifier.
On the other hand, in parallel with the operation above, the communication initialization apparatus 30 communicates with the humidifier 20, and the humidifier 20 holds ADD1 in its partner information holding means 52 as the address of the air conditioner. This completes setting of the partner information to the partner information holding means 52 of the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 and terminates communication initialization of the communication system 7 as a whole.
With communication initialization completed, the air conditioner 10 and the humidifier 20 are capable of communicating with each other. Hence, it is now possible to have the communication terminals to operate in response to each other such that, for example, when a value indicated by the humidity sensor 11 of the air conditioner 10 becomes equal to or smaller than a certain value, the first control means 12 orders the humidifier 20 to start operating.
A conventional communication system is as described above. However, with such a conventional communication system, problems as described below may occur if the configuration of the system is changed after initializing the system once.
For instance, a consideration will be given to a situation where the humidifier 20 is disconnected from the network 40 and a second humidifier is newly installed. In this case, while the second humidifier as well must be initialized for communication in the same sequence as that described in relation to the conventional technique above, the partner information holding means 52 of the communication initialization apparatus 30 still holds the official address ADD2, which was assigned to the humidifier 20, together with the equipment information on the humidifier 20 as paired information, even after the humidifier 20 is disconnected from the network. Hence, it is not possible to assign ADD2 as an address for the second humidifier.
It then follows that unless the address holding means 54 of the communication initialization apparatus 30 holds an extra yet-to-set address, the communication initialization apparatus 30 can not assign an official address to the second humidifier at all. In other words, when the address holding means 54 of the communication initialization apparatus 30 does not hold a yet-to-set address, it is not possible to assign an official address to a communication terminal which is newly installed, which is a first problem.
Further, even when the address holding means 54 holds a sufficient number of yet-to-set addresses and it is possible to set a new official address to the second humidifier, since it is ADD2 which is the address of the old humidifier 20 that the partner information holding means of the air conditioner 10 which is to communicate with the second humidifier holds, the air conditioner 10 nevertheless remains incapable of communicating with the newly disposed second humidifier.
The present invention has been made to solve the problems described above. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system, a communication initialization apparatus and a program storage medium with which it is possible to efficiently assign addresses to terminals and ensure communication between the terminals even when a change is made to connection between the terminals or the terminals themselves.
The first invention of the present invention is a communication system, comprising:
a bus for transmission of data;
a plurality of terminals connected to said bus, said plurality of terminals each including first information which contains at least an ID; and
communication initialization means which is connected to said bus and sets at least addresses to said plurality of terminals, wherein said communication initialization means comprises:
setting-regarding information holding means which holds setting-regarding information which represents correlation between said set addresses and said terminals; and
setting/confirming means which checks said first information of each one of said terminals at predetermined timing, judges whether a correct terminal based on said setting-regarding information exists every time said timing comes, and updates said setting-regarding information in accordance with a result of judgement.
The second invention of the present invention is a communication system according to the first invention, wherein said information which contains at least said IDs contains inherent information which is inherent in said terminals.
The third invention of the present invention is a communication system according to the first or second invention, wherein all or part of said terminals are capable of communicating with other terminals through said bus.
The fourth invention of the present invention is a communication system according to any one of the 1st through 3rd present inventions, wherein said communication initialization means transmits installation places of said terminals to said terminals as installation place information every time said timing comes before said updating, and
said terminals each judge upon receipt of said installation place information whether said installation place information which is received this time matches with installation place information which was received last time, and when the terminal judges the both installation place information are not equal to each other, said installation place information received this time is set as new installation place information.
The 5th invention of the present invention is a communication system according to the 3rd invention, wherein a terminal to be updated as to at least said setting-regarding information requests said communication initialization means for transmission of address information regarding a terminal which is to serve as a communication partner, and
said communication system comprises attendant-on-equipment information holding means which holds an address which is transmitted in response to the request as new partner information.
The 6th invention of the present invention is a communication system according to the 3rd invention, wherein when said setting-regarding information is updated, said communication initialization means transmits an address of a terminal which is to serve as a communication partner to a terminal which is relevant to the update of said setting-regarding information, based on said setting-regarding information which is updated.
The 7th invention of the present invention is a communication initialization apparatus for setting at least addresses to a plurality of terminals which are connected to a bus for transmission of data and which include first information which contains at least ID, said communication initialization apparatus comprising:
a setting-regarding information holding part which holds setting-regarding information which represents correlation between said set addresses and said terminals; and
a setting/confirming part which checks said first information of each one of said terminals at predetermined timing, judges whether a correct terminal based on said setting-regarding information exists every time said timing comes, and updates said setting-regarding information in accordance with a result of the judgement.
The 8th invention of the present invention is a program storage medium for recording a program and/or data for executing all or some of the functions of all or some of said means described in any one of the 1st through 7th inventions, said program storage medium being readable by a computer.